Imagining the perfect society in Muslim Brotherhood journals : an analysis of "al-Daʻwa" and "Liwaʼ al-Islam"

The investigation of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood during the presidencies of Anwar Sadat and the early years of Hosni Mubarak is based on the movement’s main journals, al-Da‘wa and Liwā’ al-’Islām, presenting its history during two relevant periods: 1976-1981, 1987-1988. These journals show that, contrary to the focus in modern research (e.a. sharia laws, gender relations, or ideas of democracy), the Brotherhood is a much more broadly oriented, social-political opposition movement, taking Islam as its guideline. The movement’s own versatile discourse discusses all aspects of daily and spiritual life. An important adage of the Brotherhood is Islam as a niẓām kāmil wa-shāmil, ‘a perfect and all-encompassing system’. Faith should play a role in every aspect of daily life, from cooking dinner and housekeeping to education, holidays, enemy images, legislation, and watching television. Islam is everything, and everything is Islam. In its journals the Brotherhood provided its unique reflection of the spirit of the age. The movement presented itself as a highly reactive group that responded to current events and positioned itself as a moral, religious and political opposition to the Egyptian regime. Acknowledgments Notes on transliteration Contents Muslim Brotherhood journals under Sadat and Mubarak: An introduction 1 Sixty years of Muslim Brotherhood press (1928 – 1987) 2 The rise of the Brotherhood and the legacy of Hasan al-Banna (1928 – 1954) 3 Incarcerated and tortured: The trauma of the Nasser years (1952 – 1970) 4 Between coexistence and confrontation: The return under Sadat (1970 – 1981) 5 Mubarak and the search for political representation (1981 – 1988) 6 Editorial Features of al-Da‘wa 7 Writing the journal: The Authors of al-Da‘wa 8 Al-Da‘wa and Matters of National Policy 9 Religion and Form of Government 10 Women and youth: Contributors to a successful Islamic order 11 The Enemies of al-Da‘wa 12 The Muslim Brotherhood returns with a new journal: Liwa’ al-Islam Epilogue Bibliography List of figures Index The main journals of the Mulsim Brotherhood during the presidency of Anway Sadat and the early years of Husni Mubarak were al Daʻwa and Liwaʼ al-Islam. in both journals the Brotherhood provided it's own unique reflection of the spirit of the age. The 1970s and early 1980s marked the movement's comeback, coupled with growing political ambitions. The Brotherhood presented itself as a reactive movement that responded to modern events and it positioned itself as a moral, religious and political opposition to the regime book shows that these journals provide a revealing and in-depth picture of the movement's outlook on issues such as leadership, politics, religion, women, its enemies and much more, that has consequences fir uts self-identification and for the way it is viewed by outsiders